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George W. Bush, the Party System, and American Federalism

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  • Sidney M. Milkis
  • Jesse H. Rhodes

Abstract

George W. Bush's presidency presents two major puzzles. The Republican Party has traditionally stood for "limited government," but Bush's principal legacy for federalism is centralization of power in the federal government and the executive branch. Most modern presidents have neglected their partisan duties, but Bush has been a uniquely vigorous party leader. Here, we show that Bush's puzzling lack of attention to federalism issues is in large part the result of his efforts to strengthen the Republican Party to cope with the political and electoral challenges characteristic of the contemporary political context. We explain why the Bush administration's strategy for redressing the Republican party's shortcomings has presupposed the deprecation of federalism, and consider the implications of our argument for the development of federal arrangements. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Sidney M. Milkis & Jesse H. Rhodes, 2007. "George W. Bush, the Party System, and American Federalism," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 37(3), pages 478-503, Summer.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:publus:v:37:y:2007:i:3:p:478-503
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/publius/pjm012
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael R. Greenberg & Marc D. Weiner & Robert Noland & Jeanne Herb & Marjorie Kaplan & Anthony J. Broccoli, 2014. "Public Support for Policies to Reduce Risk After Hurricane Sandy," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(6), pages 997-1012, June.
    2. Thomas Döring & Jan Schnellenbach, 2011. "A tale of two federalisms: Germany, the United States and the ubiquity of centralization," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 83-102, March.

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